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Jun 29, 2009

Monday June 29, 2009 Samantha Wine

Theme: Adobe Hacienda

21A: Overtaken and easily surpassed: LEFT IN THE DUST

38A: Classic 1924 novel by Ole Rolvaag: GIANTS IN THEEARTH

56A: Old fogy: STICK IN THE MUD

(Note from C.C.: A special 16*15 grid to accommodate the central theme entry GIANTS IN THE EARTH, which has 16 letters. We had a similar clay-themed puzzle by Norma Steinberg earlier in January. Her theme entries are: MUD SLINGING, EARTH MOTHER, DIRT CHEAP & DUST DEVIL. Today's theme answers are even better, all of them contain "IN THE". Very nice.)

Back to Argyle.

Quite hard for a Monday, I thought.

GIANTS IN THE EARTH was O. E. Rolvaag's most influential novel. It chronicles the story of a group of Norwegian pioneers who make the long trek from a fishing village in Norway through Canada to Spring Creek, in Dakota Territory. The novel details the triumphs, hardships, and ultimate tragedies of South Dakota farmers as they try to wrest a livelihood from a land that, while fertile, often proves actively hostile to human habitation.

Rølvaag was born in Norway. An uncle who had emigrated to America sent him a ticket in 1896, and he traveled to South Dakota to work as a farmhand working as a farmhand until 1898. He earned a bachelor's degree and a master's from St. Olaf College.

65A: Orwell's "__ Farm": ANIMAL. British author George Orwell, pen name of Eric Arthur Blair, 1903-1950, wrote "Animal Farm" where the animals take over their farm but things become worse than they were before. He also wrote "Nineteen Eighty-Four".

4D: Country singer Axton: HOYT. Hoyt Axton. You might be surprised to learn he wrote "Joy to the World", the big Three Dog Night hit and "The Pusher". Steppenwolf's version was in the movie Easy Rider.

75 comments:

Good morning, Argyle, C.C. and gang - I thought this was a nice Monday puzzle; relatively easy, but, for me anyway, several pauses and some perp help.

The theme answers were easy enough, and they took some decent chunks out of the puzzle. I'm not sure why, but I knew who Hoyt Axton was. I didn't know Rolvaag's book, and had no idea who wrote 'Play It As It Lays'. Completely forgot that a 'fetish' was also a magical object. Ended up taking a bit over 6 minutes, but I'm operating on very little sleep the past two nights.

Oh, and I can't forget to mention our new friend, 'at it'. Wonder where it's been all these years.

Dennis,I've never heard of Ole Rolvaag or his book. The answer just popped up itself. A hidden message from Rich Norris on AT IT perhaps? Chinese myth says a stunningly beautiful girl named Chang'e and her rabbit live in the moon.

Argyle,I was surprised about the plural form of filet mignon too. Not fond of the clue for TESH (29D: Pianist John) as PIANISTS is the answer for 5D: Keyboard players. As for DIDION, I did misread the clue as "Play It As It Lay" and thought of golf. Joan DIDION made me cry when she talked about "The Year of Magical Thinking". Still not used to THE FBI, IN NYC. Who is AB who says "I pity the fool who didn't get this one"? Thanks for the earthy write-up.

Had to do some erasing on this one but finished before coming here. I had TESS instead of TESH, FMHA for FNMA (which is new to me) which made GIANTS IN THE EARTH difficult to guess at which was an unknown. FILETS got me also.

Yes Argyle is AT IT again, and nicely done. I agree that this is a little harder than the usual Monday, but still quite doable. Was totally stumped by DIY, and had a difficult time with THE FBI and ARB cross. Otherwise got everything, some with help of the perps. I agree, IDEATE has never been used in common language, and FILETS was a stumper too. I put it in immediately, but it sure looks strange.

I knew nothing of Rolvaag's work, but it doesn't surprise me that he went to St. Olaf. Such a heavily Norwegian area.

Back to bed to catch up on some sleep. Had to rise to get the boys off, but need to catch up from the weekend.

I took some Togue (lake trout) filets out of the freezer Saturday morning. I soaked them in a brine with tarragon, cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt and (BAM) garlic. Set them on two racks in the smoker and they came out wicked good. Togue on saltines for lunch this week.

Nice Monday xw. "Giants in the Earth" was an unknown, and took a while since I also had TESS, and AQI/DIDION was a guess. I keep forgetting ARB, but got it from perps. Otherwise smooth sailing.

FILET MIGNON is French for "dainty fillet". Since French adjectives show agreement with their nouns, you get an S added to both words in the plural. Mignon is also sometimes used to refer to little girls, as in "Elle est mignonne, n'est-ce pas?" (Adj. feminine form doubles the -n-.)

Yesterday I did the puzzle too late to post, having been gone most of the day. I needed lots of red help anyway, so I wouldn't have had anything worth adding.

Good morning, all - This puzzle required a little more thinking than usual for a Monday, but doable. Glad I've had teenagers in the house.TFrank....The Panhandle in FL is also burning up.....heat index has been over 105 all month with the last measurable rainfall on June 5th. Weatherman says it is because we are getting land winds instead of water breezes. Rain is supposed, note the word supposed, to arrive some time this week. I understand NY is the coolest in years. Temp in northern Afganistan is 105 in daytime...grandson says that is HOT! Guess I'll stop complaining.Mr. G did not like my password today.

It`s no better where my Mom lives...down the west coast a little farther...she can only water on Sundays, and only wash her car (which she`s never driven but won`t let go of) at a carwash. I hope the fires don`t come next!

I absolutely LOVE Mondays...both LAT and NYT can be done without help!!! So satisfying...

Argyle: Excellent job, as always....what does a Monday`s- only job pay? :)

(from last evening)Windhover: You worse thin a infernal revenooer, sniffin` out a still!!

A very enjoyable puzzle. I love Monday puzzles. I did have to hit the g-spot once for Ole Rovaag’s Giants in the Earth. I wouldn’t have gotten NaOH if not from the perps as chemistry is not my strong point. Other perp help were Tesh and Didion. I learned a new word today too. Ideate. I never knew that fetish was a magical object. I also wanted a different answer for Where Moma is. I liked seeing Animal Farm and Green eggs and ham provider. My favorite clue today was “flips of hits” B-side.

Wolfmom, congratulations on the new addition to your family. I like the name Kamdyn. I don’t believe I have ever seen her name spelled that way.

Brady and I participated in a fishing tournament this past weekend and I won $200 for the biggest bass. 5lbs 9oz. I caught it on 4lb test with a slip bobber and night crawler.

Good job Argyle, and I agree, this was a harder than average Monday. Never heard of Rolvaag or the novel but with a bunch of perps help I guessed to finish the fill. I had 'dirt' for DUST and I knew Joan Didion, but I misspelled it as Didian and finally had to turn to 'Regular' to figure out where my errors were (MANO/mana - Spanish just isn't my language).

My favorite fill was EMPTY.

My father sang 'Bushel and a Peck' to us when we were kids. I still sing it to the little nieces and nephews. They think I'm from another planet.

It was hot here this weekend - 90s and 100s. And in California we view the least bit of unfavorable weather (hot, cold, wet) as a major inconvenience and personal insult. We are sooooooo spoiled.

Hope it's not to late to add my thanks to C.C. and Argyle for doing a terrific job here every day.

TFRANK: I had no idea about your weather. Neither did the LW, and she's a news junkie. But draught, crop failures, and ranchers' desperation are as nothing compared to the drug OD of a long over the hill, weirded-out pop star. But then again, so are Iran and Afghanistan.

So. Belle. My stepson is in the Afghan highlands. Not too hot there the last time we spoke, a couple of weeks ago.

I thought this was surprisingly difficult for a Monday. But it really doesn't help when you put the 64A ans in the 63A squares!

Orwell was also a great essayist. Some of his writing is available in the interwebs, and well worth checking out.

NaOH is basic, and that's no lye.

Good theme, though I like to see more than 3 themed entries. Good puzzle overall. But - is anybody else troubled by what i will term gratuitously extended answers? Frex: DON'T RUSH ME is fine - it's a phrase that hangs together, and is sensible and coherent. But THE FBI and IN NYC, IMHO, are cheats. i complained a few days ago about an ans. with an indefinite article. A definite article is no better, and a stuck-on preposition might even be worse. The correct answers are FBI and NYC, respectively. Or am I being a STICK IN THE MUD?

ATIT is the new ALAR.

Also, the cashew is a fruit.

Perhaps I am a BIASED NUT and you would like to REMAND me to a distant ACRE of the ANiMAL farm. But, really, IAMS not just being SNIDE.

Good Morning All, What an interesting Monday puzzle this was for me. It wasn't that the fills were all that difficult, but are words like ESTUARY and IDEATE really Monday words? I guess if they are gettable, they are...and I got 'em.

I have never heard of Ole Rolvaag, or his book. From the short bio, it sounds like he and my maternal grandparents could have met up on their ways to and through the Canadian prairie provinces.

Linda, "where my Mom lives...down the west coast a little farther". Does any southern state other than Florida have a west coast? Are we zero-ing in, or are you toying with us? It's OK, WH hasn't come up with any of the million dollars I need for research anyway.

Kazie, I think it is funny that the French use food names for terms of endearment, or is it the other way around? I loved it in sophomore French class when we learned that "petite chou" (little cabbage) was the same as calling someone Sweetheart.

Hi Argyle, C.C. & ..., Definitely a little harder puzzle than last week but mostly doable without online assistance. I thought that the B-side answer refers to the old 45 single records since the current CD or MP3 versions don't have sides. This means to me that this clue won't mean much to the current generation?

tFrank, I think you were referring to KittyB regarding the red letter help. I agree that it is in essence "cheating", but then again, the xwords are supposed to be fun too. I used to use a xword book a lot when I was first starting out. Often times just getting one word helps to fill in lots of others. But it is very rewarding to do the puzzle with no help at all. I generally try to do that, unless I am strapped for time, or just completely stumped. I have found that walking away and coming back later often helps quite a bit.

Warren, you bet that b-side is dated. But so are lots of clues. Then again, there are often clues from current pop culture that the older generation wouldn't know. That is part of the challenge. One of my daughters friends used to do the puzzles with me when she would come over. With the two of us combining our generational knowledge we almost always hit everything.

Hi C.C.,Argyle and all - Good Monday puzzle, and not as easy as most Monday puzzles. I got all but 51D (DIDION) and 67A (MANO).

We were gone Sat and Sun, took a trip up to Washington State's Coast and stayed at a hotel right on the beach in Ocean Shores...such a cute place. We could just step out the door and walk all along the beach - fabulous! They had had a sand castle contest earlier in the day Sat and the remains were still there and fun to see. Great weather too.

Argyle, great job as usual and a special thank you for the info on Rolvaag - I just ordered 6 of his books from the library.

Crockett, Great news about Leo!

WM, congrats on your grand neice!! Cute name too.

Andy, welcome and please stay with us (in print) :)

Elissa, (10:05) Laughed about 'Bushel and a Peck'..my Mom had that 45 record along with (On Mockingbird Hill and several others), we'd sing along but I had to have the words 'bushel and peck' explained as I was a city kid. Good memories.

Argyle and Clear Ayes,The French do show agreement on all their adjectives, predicate ones as well. So if I said "Cette jeune fille est mignonne" (That girl is cute/dainty), the adj. agrees like it would if beside the noun. (Les filets mignons sont chers = the filets mignons are expensive). In both cases, mignon is the adj. Filet is the noun, it's mignon because it looks tiny compared with most cuts of beef.

Normally feminine agreement is just adding "e", but with adjs. ending in "l", "m", "t", or "n", that letter doubles first. If it ends in "x", that changes to "s" before adding "e". Those ending in "f" change it to "v", a "c" ending becomes "ch" (blanc -> blanche). Making the feminine forms plural then just means adding "s". Not simple, is it?

Good job Argyle! Read last evening's blog, and did we forget road apple? road dog,AKA best friend,like ace boon coon..whatever

This might be snide, but after doing the last 2 most enjoyable puzzles , this was a let down.I agree with Jazzbumpa about using the and in, such a small thing to be miffed about, but it took away from the usual cleverness of these puzzle makers.Didn't like "a pop", and "I may" either, especially when they intersected with NaOh.

Favorites? H.S. class with slides, and "I'll finish...", my new mantra now that I'm retired!Bob is a NOW person.

Elissa, "Bushel and a Peck" is a favorite around here too, but unfortunately I can't remember who sang it to me."I see the Moon" is also popular since Goodnight Moon is the book-of-the-month.

So, let's say you're a Norwegian farmer and you want to leave such a cold, frozen land for an easier life in America. Do you choose California or Florida... Nooooo! You pick the Dakota's! Olaf arrives there and discovers the weather is just as brutal as back home. What does he do? He stays. AH, this is so wonderful. It's just like home! Good god, Norwegians are obstinate, thick-headed people.

It's been a busy day. I weeded for an hour at 6:00, and led an exercise class at 8:00. I didn't get to the crossword until 11:00 or so. It's nice to see so many of you back from busy weekends.

Argyle, you do a fabulous job! Thanks for giving C.C. a hand with the blog.

Dennis, I don't get the fact about the size of the moon. Where the moon is in the sky makes a difference, but beyond that, I don't get the comparison.

tfrank, with you in mind, I did the crossword on-line at the Master's level. I'm pleased to be able to say I finished the puzzle unaided, with just two incorrect letters. One was sheer stupidity and one was a typo. I checked my work at the Regular level before I came to visit the blog, and corrected those two letters.

There's a lot of satisfaction in doing the crossword without assistance, but I'm glad to have red letter help on the more difficult crosswords. Given the choice of assistance, or not doing the crossword because of time limitations, I'll always opt for a little help. And, if I use red letter help, I always say so.

WM, congrats on the arrival of that little one. Do you live far from her parents, or will you be able to visit frequently? My newest grand nephew is less than an hour away and I haven't seen him in six months! I'm rectifying that shortly, but he will be a total stranger when I see him this time.

Maniac, that togue recipe sounds wonderful! Makes me almost want to get a smoker.

Like tarrajo, I needed perp help to get NaOH and DIDION. For some odd reason, I had trouble with the Q in EQUINE, which would have given me AQI. That Q was the 'sheer stupidity' (on my part)in today's puzzle.

I agree with Jazzbumpa and others that THE FBI and INNYC leave a lot to be desired as answers.

SBKaren and Barry G, happy birthday to you both! I hope we will celebrate many, many more birthdays with you.

Andy, welcome to the group. Stick around and share your thoughts.

I'm so sorry to hear that the South is desperate for rain. In the Chicago area, we've had much cooler temps than usual until last week, and we've had so much rain that some places have flooded. My plants are astonishing, and the weeds have tried to take over just about everywhere. A blend of the South and the North would give us the perfect summer!

Gotta go! More weeding to do before the next showers arrive. Have a great afternoon.

Andy, stick with us. Please post more often. We love to hear from everyone.

Jerome, I am quite certain the Norwegians did not leave to get out of the cold. There were many reasons they came to America. Opportunity, leaving a socialist system, available land and jobs. They wanted to farm. Minnesota and the Dakota's had lots of land to farm and it was quite reasonably priced at the time. I am not Norwegian, but I do live in Minnesota. Despite the weather, it is a wonderful place and I can see why they stayed.

Why I call it the FBI, of course. That's because modern English has, and properly uses, articles in sentence construction (unlike Old English, which had none.)

But in a X-word, there's a different esthetic at play. If you allow articles, then 1A could be "A BATH", 60A "A BUSHEL," 35A "AN OAT," 67A "EL MANO." Now, I'll grant you that "THE FLOSS" for 37A is unlikely, but that doesn't really affect the basic argument.

How and when should a puzzle solver know when to include the extra word in the answer? If there is a convincing answer that specifically illuminates FBI and NYC, then I will drop my objection.

Do you really disagree with me about 3D? If the ans. had been "FBI" would you have thought that the "THE" was missing?

Argyle...terrific job...you are getting so good at this that I didn't initially realize it wasn't C.C.!

I agree that this was a more difficult than usual Monday puzzle. Did it late last night, which is good, because I am still trying to wake up.

First off...IDEATE???? I had everything but the final E and couldn't believe it. Didn't remember DIDION but once I had few letters I was able to fill it in. I knew it was FBI (my mom worked as file clerk for the SF office when she 17...and never lets us forget it!LOL)but it took the "aha" to realize it needed THE. BUSHEL was a gimme and I stumbled over ELIST but the perps gave me enough to fill in. Couldn't remember AQI until I got the Q for EQUINE...which is really dumb of me because they talk about it on the news and weather all the time...especially the last few days which have been listed as a health risk in much of the bay area.

I have a tendency to start in the NW and work down and sometimes forget I can fill in anything I already know...For MoMA I knew it had to be NYC but we also have a wonderful SFMoMA( a Fabulous Ansel Adams and Georgia O'Keefe exhibit on currently) and so that answer is limiting. Also a Latte is espresso and milk, a caffe and milk is a caffe au lait...traditional with a croissant for a French breakfast...I know, picky.

I think CA is turning into a desert at a faster rate...our Central Valley, bread basket to the world, is drying up and the crops are dying...they are saving the water for the fish(and probably all those swimming pools in SoCal!).

SBKaren and BarryG Happiest of birthdays.

Dennis love WoW today and it is too hot to play with the waffle iron, but I may use my camera.

Thanks for the congrats on Kamdyn...her last name starts with a K also and I'm seeing a K.K. nickname in her future. Saw the first photos today and she is a doll! Unfortunately they live in SoCal...so it will quite a while before we actually see her...on the other hand, our granddaughter lives about 10 min away.

Mainiac...I do have a smoker and you just gave me a great reason to pull it out and play...but next week after things calm down.

C.C. as soon as I get a link and know what what published I will put it on the blog...thank you to everyone for all your support...see Andy...a great reason to join our family.

And...Tarrjo...I am hugely impressed at you landing that fish! WOOT! You go girl! Your son will certainly have bragging rights on his awesome mom for a few weeks at least!

KQ- Some of my comment about Norwegians was tongue in cheek. All my ancestors are from Norway. My last name is Gunderson. My father was Minard, grandfather was Magnus and great grandfather was Olaf.

Jazzbumpa- THE FBI is absolutely a legitimate entry. The solver simply discovers the THE by doing the puzzle. If the fill words THE FBI stumped anyone, especially when it's clued straight up, then that person needs another cup of coffee. Is it elegant? Nope. But, it is impossible to make a crossword without a lot of mundane stuff. I truly enjoyed THE FBI. It was a bit different.

I must quibble with Argyle - Orwell's Animal Farm is a critique of the Soviet communist system and the point is not that the farm was worse after the pigs took over, but that it was exactly the same - the pigs just acted like the farmers and exploited the other animals. I really like the book - it's such a clever way to make a very serious point. It's one of the few books I was assigned to read in school that I actually enjoyed.

Kazie: I like the way you explain bits and pieces of the French culture and grammar. Although I speak and read the language, I learned it here in college. Took me 7 years. Except for two wonderful summers--one in Paris and one in Nice for 30 days each--my French is pretty textbook, and since I'm not teaching it anymore, I'm loosing my fluency to boot.

Since I live in Los Angeles, I am currently paying close attention to Spanish in an effort to learn that, so any help here from you'll would be welcomed. I can actually go to some cities in the suburbs of L.A. just 5 miles or so from me where no English is spoken. All of the notices and events on my old church bulletin board are in Spanish. Even the billboards are in Spanish.

Got stuck for "tinkerer". My mind went to the tinkers who used to come around to farm houses and repair worn pots and pans. My mom had this horrible poem she would recite to me whenever I said I wished I had something.

If wishes were fishes, then beggars would eat.And if wishes were horses, then beggars would ride.And if "ifs" and "ands" were pots and pans, we wouldn't need tinkers, would we?

Hope this all makes sense. Just got out of the hospital a few days ago, and the meds are making shakey and spacey. Navigating a keyboard is a challenge.

Good afternoon everyone, It's 12:06PDT and another 90+ day predicted.I have to slighty disagree with Clear Ayes. I cried while standing on Cemetary Ridge and thought aboutPicketts' men. They had to know that they were going to die.

Jerome, not to worry. I assumed you were tongue in cheek, but didn't realize you were blasting your own heritage. Very funny.

Doreen, I hope you are okay and your hospital stay was not serious. Get better soon.

Tarrajo, good job fishing. My kids fished with the grandparents this weekend while I was in California (safe to go to their cabin - less trouble there), but they didn't catch anything big. Good for you. I used to love to fish, but never liked actually touching the fish or the bait. I would have never taken my sons myself.

@WM and KQ, thanks for the kudos on landing the big one! There were different categories to win. First prize was $500 for the biggest fish. Someone caught a big Northern pike. I am not sure what it weighed though. It was actually quite the site…here were all these he-men with bass boats, fish finders and live wells and in paddles Brady in I in our canoe with the fish in a bucket! WM does WOOT stand for something? KQ I don’t particularly like touching the fish so I wear a glove.

Tarrajo...WOOT! is like saying Woo Hoo...or YEA! Picked it up from online stuff from our daughters. I never got to fish much but have no touble with handling fish( not big on live bait though)...I prefer to buy small fish whole but have boned a fileted whole salmon for the grill. My first "test" when I interned in the restaurant in Brittany was to gut pigeons and truss them for roasting...passed with flying colors in an all-male kitchen and from then on in they shared everything...next job...skinning 4 grey tubs of fish for dinner...then they finally allowed me into the dessert room!

Doreen...hope all is well and that you heal quickly...your typing looks pretty good to me!

KittyB - Congratulations on finishing with no help! I apologize for misaddressing my note to you this morning. I admire your honesty about 'fessing up whenever you use red letter help.

Birthday greetings to SandbridgeKaren and BarryG! I hope you celebrate vigorously.

JD, thanks for the link on Iranian mud villages. It appears their inhabitants are in great risk if an earthquake should strike. My claustrophobia would not permit me to even visit one them, much less live in one.

IDEATE--Your description "pretentious, under-educated, under-whelming corporate people," left out an important "pompous" component. I never thought I would see this word again after an Executive Masters program at Northwester U in 1979-81. The program coordinator used this word almost every session--orally & on the board until someone (It could have been me) wrote something derogatory about "over ideating" in class & it was never heard from again. Good riddance to IDEATE!

Jerome, glad you cleared up your Norwegian comment! I am 1/4 myself and I know they are a rather bull headed group, and can carry a grudge longer than a Swede (I am also 1/4 Swede). The Germans come in a close second though (1/2 German) :). My Joe is a saint!! I really don't know how he has put up with me all these years but I'll bet it's his Irish heritage. He's always been able to make me laugh!!

Doreen: I sincerely hope you are on the mend.

Tarrajo: Way to go with the biggest bass!! I'll bet Brady got a huge kick out of that!

Jerome, We have a few Gudmund Magnussons and Magnus Gudmundsons in our Swedish family tree. I smiled at your Norwegian farmer description. I'd heard a similar story about the Swedes who found a place that was just as miserable as the place they'd left and could hardly wait to unpack. Don't be insulted Minnesotans or other mid-westerners, your states are beautiful, as are both Sweden and Norway. Garrison Keillor has made a career out of gently mocking the Scandinavians of his "home town", Lake Wobegon, Minnesota. But you have to admit, it is a lot easier to live where you do in 2009, than it was in 1909.

Hope your feeling OK, Doreen. Take it easy.

Happy B-Day to SandbridgeKaren and Barry B.

FF # 1 reminded me of Monty Python and Eric Idle's version of The Galaxy Song

No disagreement, Eddyb, visiting Gettysburg was a very emotional experience.

WM - Do you ever go to WOOT.com and find the deal of the day? They can be pretty awesome sometimes and the stories that go with are equally as good. I check it every day.

Vern, excellent IDEATE story.

Carol, I am about 90% German and fall into that stubborn, hard headed category, so I felt I could give Jerome a little banter there.

ClearAyes, you make an excellent point about survival today in Minnesota vs. when the Norse arrived. However, I will say the people make it all worth while. We have a lot of Minnesota nice here and a great work ethic.

Here is one for the California crowd. We had dinner in San Diego with some fairly new transplants to the area. She said she saw the epitome of San Diego when she spotted the Bentley on the side of the road with the plastic FOR SALE sign, $88,500. I am all over that one!

I, too, am Norwegian with my father born in Bergen. My wife's grandparents, on both sides, were born in Sweden. We have lots of fun and I confess that I'm a little more than stubborn. On the risk of starting a flood of jokes, my favorite is about the couple in Minnesota who had rats in their cellar. The problem was solved when lutefisk was placed in the cellar. The rats disappeared but now they can't get rid of the Swedes.

The 4th of July is just around the corner and after a few posts about our immigrant families, I thought of how appropriate this poem is. I still get goosebumps when I read it. The poem was donated to raise funds to build the base of the Statue of Liberty. All four of my grandparents passed by Bedloe Island and saw the Statue of Liberty on their way to Ellis Island and eventual entry into New York. It sounds like many of your relatives had the same experience.

I know most of you already knew this, but I forgot to mention that The New Colossus is engraved on a plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty.

Vern, I believe that Carol and I had a discussion about the desperation that must have been involved in the first ever creation of lutefiske. I do love pickled herring though. Most non Norswegians aren't too fond of that either.

Argyle, It is always good to hear from another Pogo fan. The saying was first used on a poster for Earth Day 1971. Judging from Dennis' FF# 2, we haven't learned much in 38 years.

Vern@4:55...LMAO!!!!That was funny. There is a terrifically funny movie called the REF that features Lutefiske...A very dark comedy about families at holidays...Kevin Spacey, Dennis Leary...

KQ..just checked it out...very funny...might check in on it periodically.

CA...I hadn't read the whole poem for a while and it does give one goosebumps. And we do have to remember that that incredible statue and symbol of our country was designed, built and gifted to us by the French. Everytime I see it, whether in NYC or just in photos, I marvel at the concept and artistry. I once watched a PBS special on its construction...simply amazing!

IRISH JIM...just like Camden. I'm not at all squeamish with food things and I'm good at stomping bugs and spiders and I like any kind of snake that isn't poisonous but slugs give me the willies, especially those awful banana slugs they have up in the Santa Cruz hills...ewwww :oP

I had several relatives from Germany who passed through Ellis Island...Both my hubby and I are half German and the other half is Scots primarily...on both sides of our families, people came from the same regions, even just a few generations back, from W.VA...we joke that we don't want to look too far back in our family histories for fear that we may be 'generations ago' related!

Vern (4:55) I'll echo WM in saying I LMAO too....'Svenska' jokes are so tempting. My Dad has a great sense of humor; very dry. You had to be paying close attention to what he said, as he usually said it quietly but it had such a 'punch' at the end. My Dad and his Mother both had such good senses of humor - so did a few of his 5 brothers and 1 sister, others, no so much. Dad's Mother was born in Kolstad, Sweden in 1877 and his Dad was born in Norway (don't know city or year). Swedes and Norwegians are sometimes thought of as being as cold humored as their climes but that is not true. We are well known for laughing at lutefisk jokes!

What was the 'poem' or 'jingle' about 10,000 Swedes ran through the weeds, chased by 1 Norwegian? I used to know the words.

Thanks all for the lovely and quite unexpected birthday wishes. They absolutely made my day. Except my birthday is MAY 29th so hopefully I'm not a year older than I was last month. I like the presents and celebrating; not so much the getting older part.

And, yes, I celebrated vigorously for many days.

Linda - thanx for the ecard - that sent me back to the blog to see what was up. I've been 'out of pocket' for about 10 days - doing the xwords but not blogging. Hope I haven't missed a lot. You are the bestest!!!!!!!!!!

Well Linda, Me and the other monkey are still tied to the tent stake. a short distance away, a herd of "show horses" were being managed by their trainer when something "Spooked" them and started a stampede. We happened to be right in their path. Mom always kept us in sight, but this time she could do nothing but pray. Somehow the horses either darted around or jumped over us. We ended up without a scratch.After that incident the "harness" came off and I was never "staked out" again.I was probably about two years old at that time so I have no recollection of the event. Mom and Dad told the story many times.

Jerome, if you look at my picture closely you will realize I come from some Norwegian and Swede descent. Matter of fact, I am also a Pole and actually was able to find my Grandma's actual travel documents that were from her travel to Ellis Island.

Clearayes, The New Colossus is one of the first poems I ever had to recite out loud and center at a speech class in high school. Of all the poems you print here that is the only one I can recite from heart. Okay, besides "There once was a man from Nantucket"...

@JD...LGJ is already telling fish stories...mostly, "We were paddling like mad to make it to the weigh in". I let him carry the heavy bucket up to the weigh in area. It was heavy with five gallons of water and an almost 6lb fish. I also let him release it. It was really cute, we had to have a live fish for weigh in and he (between strokes) kept splashing water in the pail. Chickie...this is NO fish story.

$100 went into LGJ's savings account and we haven't yet decided how to spend the rest. The long weekend is upon us and I am thinking we are gonna go camp somewhere. BTW LGJ's birthday is tomorrow. I may let him sign on...debating.

KQ- I know how devilish and tricky constructors are. Double that for editors. SAMANTHA WINE... C'mon. I love anagrams and I'm always looking for them. By the way, don't ever visit Dennis at his sin den.

Tarrajo...you continue to astonish me. I espescially like the fact you went out for a fishing tournament in a CANOE! I think you are great and a great MOM. What's next? (Okay the girly part came out and gave a sigh of relief when you admitted to wearing a glove.)

Jerome, I have been to that den of Dennis's and what happens in that den stays in that den. Right Lois?

Tarrajo..blow out the 2nd $100 on you and that terrific son you have...you have more than earned it.

Dennis...if you are stoopid...then I am...I hate to even think about it! ;o)

Just a back comment on Elissa's comment earlier today...I agree that, as a native Californian, we probably complain about the weather more than anyone...but...in defense...the last few years are getting a bit scary. If we don't get rain next year...who knows...on the other hand, if we don't like the weather we can get in the car and drive an an hour or two and change it.

Hello everyone. I am new to this site, and I think it is just terrific. The crossword is the high light of my day, and really enjoy reading your comments and explanations of the answers. The majority of 6/29 puzzle was easy for me, but a couple had me stumped. 15A,47A, and 38A Will be checking in daily.

I did the puzzle yesterday but I didn't have internet access. I wrote SIS for "Bro's sib" but knowing this editor I figured it could also be YOU (ie your bro's sib is you). Oh and my newspaper had the clue "JosZ's hand" and I thought JosZ was some kind of rapper. Apparently the Taipei Times doesn't have the font necessary to handle Spanish or French accents. I wasn't able to get SAM I AM, DIDION or AQI as a result. I know, excuses, excuses.